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.Dedicated satellites for Navy, IAF to be launched soon: Antony
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NEW DELHI: Armed with the capability of providing real time data from multiple sites, the dedicated communication satellites for Indian Navy and Air Force will be launched in the next two years, government told the Lok Sabha today.
In a written reply to a question in the House, defence minister A K Antony said, "The Naval Satellite is planned to be launched in 2012-13... A dedicated communication satellite for Air Force is planned to be launched in 2013-2014."
The Tri-services Defence Communication Network (DCN) is being progressed as per the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP). DCN envisages a network of optical fibre cables, satellite earth stations and transportable and portable satellite terminals with high security features, he told the House.................... For full news please visit above link

Bangalore: While the creations of Mayilsamy Annadurai, ISRO's programme director and chief problem solver for remote sensing satellites like the RISAT 1, always soar through the skies, his own background is a lot more humble.

Annadurai has had a hand in almost every remote sensing satellite made at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). One of India's foremost scientists, he began his studies in the humblest of places.

"Till the third standard the local cowshed was our classroom. We would come in the morning, clean the place of dung and then sit down to study. And we'd repeat that every day, every morning," says Annadurai.

He did his masters from a regional engineering college in Tamil Nadu and joined ISRO in 1982. When he began, he says, he could hardly speak in English. Yet, over the next 30 years, he became an expert on satellites, letting his actions speak louder than his words.

However, his moment of glory came in 2008. As Project Director of India's maiden moon mission, Chandrayaan, he led 3000 national and international scientists to victory.

"If you really want to, if you have the passion for it, anything is possible," he said.

ISRO to test indigenous cryogenic engine today - The Hindu: Mobile Edition
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Two more, including 1,000- second endurance, tests in coming months: ISRO chief.
The Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) will put its cryogenic engine to an acceptance test on Saturday at a special facility at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu, ISRO chief K. Radhakrishnan has said.
Mr. Radhakrishnan had said earlier that they were confident of using an indigenous cryogenic engine to propel a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) by September.
The GSLV would undergo two more tests, including an endurance test of 1,000 seconds, at the same place in the next few months.
Mr. Radhakrishnan was speaking at the 40-year celebrations of the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), where former directors reminisced about the inception of the centre and its initial days, during which it functioned out of a modest shed in Peenya.
â€œWhenever someone in the country tunes into a television set, makes an STD call or withdraws money from an ATM, there is an element of ISAC behind it,â€ said T.K. Alex, director of ISAC.
Whether forewarning about cyclones, forecasting the monsoon or identifying natural resources, the 60-odd satellites produced in the last four decades had served the nation with distinction, Mr. Alex said.
Among the satellites slated for launch is a six-tonne satellite that would have between 48 and 60 transponders, said Mr. Alex. It could, however take them up to three years to complete the project.

.Isro successfully tests indigenous cryogenic engine - Hindustan Times
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In a major step, Isro on Saturday successfully tested the indigenous cryogenic engine to be used to propel the country's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle.
The test was conducted at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu's Tirunelveli district.
"The acceptance test of the indigenous cryogenic engine for the forthcoming GSLV-D5 flight was conducted successfully for 200 seconds at 17:10 hrs...," an Isro statement said.
"The performance of the engine was as predicted," it said.
The maiden flight test of the indigenous cryogenic stage onboard GSLV-D3 failed in May 2010 after it developed a snag and the rocket plunged into the sea minutes after lift-off.
Isro chief K Radhakrishnan had said last month that GSLV would undergo two more tests at the Mahendragiri facility.
He had also said Isro was planning a GSLV launch with Indian cryogenic engine during September-October.Isro plans to fly two GSLV rockets at an interval of six months with the third one meant for the Chandrayaan-2 moon mission.

Land for new satellite launch pad ready
The Krishna district administration came forward to allot 321 acres of land near Gollalamoda near Nagayalanka in Krishna district for setting up a satellite launching pad by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The revenue officials sent necessary proposals to the central government in August last year and are waiting for central governmentâ€™s clearance for the project. Speaking to this newspaper, joint collector Dr Gaurav Uppal said that they wrote to the central government for a clarification on the project. He said the ISRO officials also visited the place to study the feasibility report for the rocket launching pad.
At present, the ISRO officials are launching satellites once in two months from the available two launching pads at Sriha-rikota High Altitute Range (SHAR).

The ISRO officials sent proposals for the third launching pad at SHAR but the central government is yet to give clearance.

Meanwhile, the ISRO officials are searching for alternative sites to develop rocket launching pads to increase the frequency of rocket launching to suit the future demands.

Speaking to this newspaper over phone, Srihari-kota Satish Dhawan Space Centre official Mr Ravindr-anath said that the officials conducted a survey to get the feasibility report for rocket launching pad and the government has to take a decision on the location.

The coastal region of Krishna district would witness enormous development once the central government gives clearance for the satellite rocket launching pad at Gollalamoda.

As the Chief Minister Mr N. Kirankumar Reddy recently announced the grounding of Bandar port works soon by giving clearance to acquire 5000 acres of land the coastal region would likely witness rapid development in future..
.Land for satellite launch pad ready | Deccan Chronicle

ISRO's Space Capsule Recovery Experimentâ€“2 (SRE-2) scheduled for launch later this year will feature solar panels, an indication perhaps that it will remain in orbit longer than the 10 days that SRE-1 spent in space.

The SRE-2, a follow-up to the 2007 SRE-1 project, will demonstrate ISRO's ability to build a fully recoverable space capsule. It will also be used to conduct microgravity experiments.

New technology to be tested on SREâ€“2 include Carbon-Carbon Nose Cap and indigenous Ultra High Frequency Beacons.

SRE-1, a 1,212-pound (550-kg) space capsule, was successfully launched into orbit on January 10, 2007 on board PSLV C7. It was de-orbited and recovered on January 22, 2007. demonstrating ISRO capability to recover satellite from orbit at a predetermined location

The mission provided ISRO valuable experience in fields like navigation, guidance and control during the re-entry phase, hypersonic aero thermodynamic, development of reusable thermal protection system (TPS), recovery through deceleration and flotation, besides acquisition of basic technology for reusable launch vehicles.

SRE-1 carried two experiments, an Isothermal Heating Furnace (IHF) and a Bio-mimeic experiment.

SRE was launched into a 635 km polar SSO in January 2007 as a co-passenger with CARTOSAT -2 and stayed in orbit for 10 days during which its payloads performed the operations they are intended to.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) will display all its working models at the six-day 'Space Festival 2012' of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) to be held in association with the Bharathiar University (BU) in Coimbatore between July 9 and 14.

While Isro's display will highlight the achievements of India in space science, Nasa will host 21 select events at the festival, including demonstration of various rocket models, tabletop rovers etc.

"We are arranging a separate display of Isro's working models at the programme, which will have even the latest Brahmos' model and its variants.

This will help the visitors to have a glimpse of India's achievements in Space science," said vice-chancellor of BU, Prof C. Swaminathan.

The festival is jointly organised by the Nasa, BU, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Isro and Tamil Nadu State Council for Science and Technology (TNSCST).Schools can register on Space Festival - 2012

Indiaâ€™s mission to the red planet, Mars, will be launched next year, ahead of the mission to study the sun which was earlier scheduled to kick off in 2013. Delays in getting the instrumentation ready for the sun mission on board the satellite Aditya-1, under the aegis of Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), and Mars coming close to Earth over the next two years has led to the change in the space schedule, experts have said.

Aditya-1 solar missionâ€™s principal investigator and IIA scientist, Jagdev Singh, told DNA, â€œAs most of the components (for Aditya-1) are being developed by laboratories of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and other participating organisations (Udaipur Solar Observatory, Radio Astronomy Centre and the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics), detailed specifications of the components are being worked out. This is taking a lot of time as this type of instrumentation (exclusively to study the sun) is being developed for the first time in India.â€

He said Isro, which is carrying out the Mars mission, had already taken up the project that entails sending a 25 kg payload onboard the satellite that will orbit the red planet to carry out experiments to learn more about the surface and atmosphere of Earthâ€™s closest planet in the Solar System.
â€œA new schedule is now being worked out (for Aditya-1),â€ Singh said.

Isro has three launch windows â€“ 2013, 2016 and 2018. It takes about nine months for the Mars probe to reach the red planet, and the first launch window is some time in November 2013. The Indian space scientists are keen on taking a pot shot at Mars beginning then, Isro sources said. The Mars probe is scheduled to be launched on board Isroâ€™s much tested warhorse, Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), which was also used to launch Chandrayaan-1, the countryâ€™s first unmanned mission to Moon in October 2008.

The main objectives of the Aditya-1 mission is to study the Coronal Mass Ejection and consequently the crucial physical parameters for space weather, such as the coronal magnetic field structures, evolution of the coronal magnetic field etc.

This will provide completely new information on the velocity fields and their variability in the sunâ€™s inner corona having an important bearing on the unsolved problem of heating of the corona.
IIA scientists felt this is the ideal time to take up the solar mission due to the ongoing solar maxima when the solar activity is at its maximum.

Meanwhile, Isroâ€™s Mars project got a big boost when it received a budgetary allocation of Rs125 crore for its launch earlier this year.
However, a senior Isro scientist sought to downplay the priority being given to the space agencyâ€™s Mars mission. He merely said, on condition of anonymity: â€œBoth projects are important. Work on the Mars mission will start as soon as the government gives its final approval.â€

New Delhi: In a bold move, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is opening up to market forces and is hoping to hand over part of the lucrative rocket launch business and satellite manufacturing to the Indian industry.

India's workhorse rocket, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), which has completed 20 consecutively successful launches under the eagle eye of ISRO, is one such technology that the agency is hoping to hive off to private players. Today, about 80 % of the vehicle is put together with parts supplied by the private industry. If K Radhakrishnan, the current chairman of ISRO and a manager trained at the Indian Institute of Management at Bangalore has his way, then the entire vehicle itself could well be made and launched by private players.

Mr Radhakrishnan says, "The PSLV is a reliable vehicle...there are requirements of putting Indian satellites, and in the global market, the PSLV too has a niche. Capability is there, demand is there, now how to enhance the capacity to realize more PSLVs? As of now more than 400 industrial firms are working for realizing various elements of PSLV. Can we get the Indian space industry to realize the [entire] PSLV vehicle itself?"

Each PSLV vehicle costs the tax payer about Rs. 120 crores, and today ISRO can, at best, fabricate four PSLV rockets per year. In the next two-three years, almost a dozen launches of PSLV are already slated and ISRO will be stretched to meet these requirements.

The plan is to carve out a 250-acre, dedicated 'Space Park' adjoining the space port at Sriharikota, which could be used by private players to develop the Indian aerospace industry.

ISRO is also thinking of hiving off the money-spinning communication satellite business. Adding further, Mr Radhakrishnan said, "On communications satellites, there is a large demand for transponders today. So, if the proven platforms of communications satellites...if they could be replicated with the help of the industry. With industry taking a major role, that is another way of meeting the national demands at the earliest possible."

Today, the global space business is valued at $ 177 billion and growing. So, will the Indian industry not want a share? M V Kotwal, Board Member, Larsen & Toubro & President Heavy Engineering and head of L&T's space and nuclear business told NDTV, "If ISRO is interested in partnering the Indian Industry in overall management of the entire Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle programme and the communications satellite fabrication programme, it is a very welcome and necessary step. With its wide experience and expertise in project management, L&T would be positively inclined and well placed to take over the complete programme management with technical support from ISRO. In future, we could jointly explore global opportunities in these domains."

With missions to Mars, moon and sun on the mind, ISRO rightfully seeks to divest itself of repeat and routine manufacturing which is best done by nimble private players, but with the Antrix-Devas fiasco fresh in everyone's mind, will the private players really bite the bait? ISRO now seeks to do what it does best - cutting-edge research. So it now wants to sell off its launcher and communication satellite units to the industry.

With missions to Mars, moon and sun on the mind, ISRO rightfully seeks to divest itself of repeat and routine manufacturing which is best done by nimble private players, but with the Antrix-Devas fiasco fresh in everyone's mind, will the private players really bite the bait? ISRO now seeks to do what it does best - cutting-edge research. So it now wants to sell off its launcher and communication satellite units to the industry.

Click to expand...

This is a great idea. Once GSLV becomes routine as well, I assume that will also be left out to private players.

I had a short stint in ISRO during my MCA internship for a software project. Recently got to chat with one of my mentors from there.
I knew it won't bear fruit to ask specific questions, so just tried to take a general sense/mood of how things were going with commercial ventures.
"Going great guns" came the answer. The mentor isn't low in the food chain so I believed it
I have more sources there. People of my age group. Time to establish the links again

The Union Cabinet on Friday cleared the Indian Space Research Organisationâ€™s (ISRO) mission to Mars next year.

The project, which comes on the heels of the Chandrayaan mission to the moon, envisages putting a spacecraft in the red planetâ€™s orbit to study its atmosphere, with the help of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

India joins the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and China in undertaking such an effort.
The launch is slated for November next year from Sriharikota. The Space Commission gave its clearance for the mission in December last.
The spacecraft will have a scientific payload of 25 kg and is proposed to be placed in an orbit of 500x80,000 km around the planet.

Why November--

Sources in the ISRO said November was chosen, as the planet would be closest to the earth that time.
The next such opportunity will come only in the summer of 2018.
NASA is also said to be working on a Mars mission in November next year.
The mission is estimated to cost about Rs.450 crore. An initial provision of Rs.125 crore was made in this yearâ€™s budget to kick-start the work.